Silver Dream by Angela Dorsey

when she
felt a hand on her arm. “I have an idea,” David whispered close to
her ear. “I figure this might be the one time it’s good to look
like this Graham guy.”
    Gratefully, Joanna slipped
behind him. The men still hadn’t seen them, but the dogs knew they
were there. It wouldn’t take Mr. Williams long to send them after
the intruders. He must know someone was hiding in the shadows. Why
else would Oliver bark?
    David pulled his baseball cap
low over his eyes.
    “Bandit! Oliver! Find them!”
    The two dogs leapt toward them –
and David stepped into the light. The dogs came to a sliding halt
in front of him, and behind them the men stopped, Mr. Williams at
the front of the mob looking momentarily speechless at the
intruder’s audacity.
    David stood with his hands in
his pockets, looking from one to the next from under his hat
brim.
    “Who are you?” demanded
Williams.
    “Don’t you recognize me?” asked
David. His voice was surly. Impatient. “You should.”
    Mr. Williams stepped closer,
peered into the shadows beneath the hat brim. “I’ve never seen you
before in my life.”
    “Not me,” said David. “But my
dad. I look like him.”
    “I don’t know your father.” Mr.
Williams stepped back, and motioned for the grooms to grab
David.
    “I wouldn’t do that if I were
you,” David warned. “I have proof of what you did, Williams. I have
documents. Dates. Dad gave them to me. He told me everything,
including how rich you’d become.” He laughed, a cold, hard bark. “I
figure it’s time to collect my share.”
    “Who is your father?”
    David swept his hat from his
head. Though Joanna couldn’t see his face from behind him, she
imagined him glaring at Mr. Williams with hard eyes. “I know you
can see the resemblance. I’ve been mistaken for him before.”
    “Graham.” The dread in Mr.
Williams’ whisper carried the sound into the shadows like a shout.
“I–”
    “Don’t play games with me,
Williams. I have proof. Not here of course, but somewhere safe. I
know all about Thomas, and what you did to him.”
    Joanna could see by the
horror-struck look on Mr. Williams face, painfully illuminated in
his own lights, that he was indeed guilty of drugging Mr. Thomas’s
horses and causing him to go bankrupt.
    “You want me to tell your boys
about it?”
    “No!”
    “Should I phone the police, Mr.
Williams?” asked the biggest groom.
    “No. Let me think.”
    “Of course he doesn’t,” said
David. “If you did that, his little secret would be out.”
    “And what secret is that?” asked
the groom.
    “Yeah,” said another.
    “Shall I tell them? Or will you
pay me?”
    “I’ll pay,” said Mr. Williams
quickly. “Come into the house.”
    “No, I’ll wait here. Remember to
bring me enough that I’ll want to keep my mouth shut, and keep in
mind that I’ve had a good look around. I have an idea of what
you’re worth.”
    Mr. Williams turned to his
grooms. “Keep him here until I get back.” Then he strode toward his
house.
    The group of grooms glared at
David. “You stole Tango?” asked the biggest one. The house door
slammed. Mr. Williams was inside.
    David shook his head. “But I’m
bringing him home,” he said in his normal voice. “And I have no
interest in Williams’ tainted money either. He can keep it. All I
want is for you to know what happened, how Williams got where he
is. And I want you to let me go after I tell you.”
    “We’re listening.”
    And so David told them. Joanna
felt tears come to her eyes as she listened to David’s story of how
Graham and Mr. Williams conspired to ruin Cally’s grandfather, all
in the name of greed. Cally sniffled beside her and the big groom’s
sharp gaze leapt to the shadows.
    “Who’s there? Come out now, or
I’ll send the dogs in after you.”
    Joanna grabbed Cally’s hand and
the two of them walked into the light. “It won’t do you any good,”
she said. “They like us.” As if to prove her words, Oliver